


Marauders

by Everliah



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: EVERYONE DIES ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY, F/M, First Love, Major Character Injury, Major character death - Freeform, ah well, basically everyone okay - Freeform, i cant really tag so this is a bit of a train wreck, more of an obsessive love tbh but meh same thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-03-15
Packaged: 2018-03-18 01:19:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3550745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Everliah/pseuds/Everliah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It is in these darkest times…when the world is grey and our souls are dimmer than ever before, when our enemies are mere shadows against the light that we must stay together. And through every fight, we shall lose our friends, our family, our loved ones, and we must battle on. This, I can assure you, is the beginning of something more foreboding and sinister than we can even imagine. This is the start of a reign. This is the start of Lord Voldemort.”</p><p>This is not the story of one marauder. It is the story of four. And their journey through school, teenage-life, first love and a war.</p><p>WARNING: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH! SERIOUSLY! (HAHA that's not even a pun!) I'M NOT JOKING! EVERYONE DIES!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Making of Friends

**Author's Note:**

> Please, please, please, please leave a little review telling me what you think! This will hopefully develop into a full, long, complete story of the Marauders (and Lily, but she's an honorary Marauder, really!) and their life as they are, by far, the best characters EVEERRRR!  
> This book is mostly head-canon and the first few chapters will be oneshots showcasing their early Hogwarts life before it focuses on their Seventh Year and their Order tasks and The War. There will be quite a few mistakes as there isn't a place where I can get EVERYTHING Jo released regarding the Marauders, but I'll try to keep it as accurate as possible (including times and dates and names and things!).  
> But I have also added a lot of things to spice it up! *wink wink*
> 
> Anyway, I just hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing about them! This means a lot to me:)  
> Thanking you kindly,  
> Everliah

Chapter One

The boy looked around the station. Snippets of murmured conversations reached his ears, blocking out the shrill voice of his mother. He could hear owls hooting and cats meowing; a slightly deformed choir of animals.   
He felt eyes on him and turned around, before spotting a boy staring at him from afar, behind his mother. He had black messy hair, very much like his own, with hazel eyes and glasses perched on the end of his nose. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly and his eyes wide with incredulity. Sirius Black glanced at his mum, who was still talking, and then back at the other boy. He stifled a laugh. The hazel-eyed boy was imitating his mother. Very accurately, might he add. The boy frowned suddenly, bringing his hand up to touch the area just under his left eye. He raised an eyebrow, asking a silent question. Hastily, Sirius tuned in again and cringed at her high-pitched voice.   
“-that pathetic excuse of a Headmaster has shamed this school! Look at the filth he’s letting in. You need to stay away from those types, Sirius. You would do well to remember it.” She sniffed indignantly, fixing her eldest son with a piercing glare. As she turned away to complain to her husband, Sirius winced and absent-mindedly reached up to touch the bruise on his left cheekbone. He remembered the day he had gotten it, when he had innocently yet bluntly asked why he couldn’t play with the muggle girl down the street. His father had gone quiet, suddenly interested in his newspaper. His mother had stared at him for a minute or two, as if expecting him to start laughing and shout ‘April Fools!’ When he hadn’t, she had screamed, brandishing her wand and hitting him. He had seen Regulus’ young face peaking around the doorway when he was slipping in and out of consciousness and had subtly waved him away, lest he get in the midst of his mother’s rage.   
Out of all the things in his miserable life, Sirius regarded Regulus with the most respect. His brother, whilst only a year younger, was the only source of positivity in his life.   
He recalled, smiling slightly, the night after his beating. Regulus, even after he had been shunned and told to go away for his own protection, had crept into Sirius’ room late at night and the two boys had laid together, staring up at the ceiling for what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes. It was that night that Sirius had realised that Regulus was quite possibly the only person he loved.   
Then Regulus had left, slipping silently out of the bed to go back to his own room. A Black never showed weakness. For all everyone knew, Regulus had never been there.  
But Sirius was not everyone.  
The train whistled shrilly and Sirius saw the boy behind his mother jump. He nodded respectively to both his parents, offered a sad smile in Regulus’ direction when his mother wasn’t looking and quickly dragged his trunk onto the train.   
He huffed as he peered into compartment after compartment, eventually finding an empty one for him to have all to himself. He pulled his trunk in after him, lifting it up and- after almost falling sideways from the weight of it-somehow managed to get it onto the overhead racks. Panting, he collapsed onto the seat.   
Shortly after, the compartment door slid open and a boy’s head popped in. His dark hair was stuck to his forehead from sweat and he was twitching and wrinkling his nose in an attempt to push his glasses, which were in the process of slipping down, further up his face.   
He paused his actions, finally noticing Sirius and his face broke out into a wide grin. Sirius realised that it was the boy from the platform and readily returned his smile. The boy hauled his trunk in and, with some difficulty tried to manoeuvre it so he could easily store it on the rack. Sirius stood up and grabbed the other side and together, they succeeded in pushing the heavy trunk onto the luggage bracket.   
The train beneath them lurched forward and they stumbled, arms flailing wildly for support. Looking at each other, they quickly got to the window, fighting over who got to stick their head out of the small open slot. Thankfully, they found a way in which they could both do it and they shouted their farewells to the heaving crowd of people on the steadily departing station.   
When their voices were hoarse, and the station was no more than a speck of black in the distance, they resolved to sitting across from one another on the plush pea-green seats.  
“What house do you want to be in?” The boy asked, abruptly breaking the silence. His eyes shined with barely contained excitement. “I want to be in Gryffindor! That’s what house my dad was in!” He said proudly, not bothering to wait for Sirius’ reply. He inhaled, puffing his chest out dramatically before singing, (in a very out of tune way):  
“You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart!”   
Sirius looked at him for a while, his expression a mixture of amusement and disbelief, before he started laughing. The boy looked at him, in mock offense.   
“What?”   
“You learnt it?” Sirius asked, stifling his laughter.  
“Yes? So what? I’m a true Gryffindor!” His façade broke for a moment as he failed in concealing a good-natured grin, before turning serious once more. “Why? What house do you like?” That stopped Sirius laughing.  
“Well…” Sirius began slowly. “My entire family has been in Slytherin.”   
The boy recoiled, as though slapped.   
“You’re a snake?” He asked suspiciously, his voice raising an octave or two.   
“They are snakes,” Sirius replied quietly. “I am not.”   
The boy relaxed slightly but still looked slightly alarmed.  
“Why?”  
Sirius whipped his head around to look at the boy across from him.   
“What?”  
“Why aren’t you?”   
He fell silent. Why didn’t he want to be a Slytherin? The answer was easy. Simple, really.   
He didn’t want to end up like his mother.   
The train whistled again, as they picked up speed. The scenic view on the other side of the window raced past; a blur of merged greens and blues. Sirius frowned, he could feel the boy’s eyes on him yet again. He turned to him, pushing the cold turn of their conversation away and mock-bowed, taking on a snobbish accent.  
"I am Sirius Orion Black the Third, eldest and most honourable son of Walburga and Orion Black and, quite obviously the most handsome.” Here, he inserted a cheeky wink just for added effect. “Can I just say what a pleasure it is to make your acquaintance!" The boy grinned, standing up with graceful air and bowing back.  
"James Potter, heir to the Potter fortune and eldest and only son to Dorea and Charlus Potter! Please, the pleasure is all mine Sirius Orion Black!"  
“The Third!” Sirius added indignantly.  
“The Third,” James amended, apologetically bowing his head.  
They looked at each other before bursting into laughter. Slowly, they calmed down, eyeing the other with an appreciative look on their faces. Silence engulfed them for a few minutes but Sirius felt like he couldn't leave James' previous question unanswered.  
"I don't want to be."   
James stared at him, confused for a second, before his eyebrows rose with understanding and he gave a small sad smile.  
"I don't want to be either."   
The rest of the train journey was an enjoyable affair for both of them as they feasted on different chocolate and retold stories and jokes: (“Wait a minute, you got knocked out by a house elf? Woah, woah, woah- you actually have a house elf?” “You don’t?”)   
When they finally arrived at Hogsmeade, they were ushered by a friendly giant of a man called Hagrid into small boats. Sirius made sure to stick with James no matter what and so, they found themselves crammed on a boat with two other first years; a rather tall, brooding boy with greasy shoulder-length hair and a hooked nose and a pretty redhead, her emerald eyes shined with awe as she looked around at the lake.  
"You know, I read in Hogwarts: A History that there are merpeople living in the Black Lake! Oh, I wonder what they look like! Do you think they'll be like those off of the Little Mermaid? No, they mustn't be. That's a Disney film, a mere figment of one man's imagination. But of course, there is always the possibility that Walt Disney was a wizard..." The girl trailed off, oblivious to James and Sirius' look of dubious confusion. 'This Knee?' What was that? An illness? "What do you think Sev?"  
Both boys looked at 'Sev'. James sniggered.   
"Yeah, what do you think Sev?" He mocked, his voice mimicking the young girls. She glared fiercely at them both, as Sirius let out a bark of laughter.  
Suddenly, a splash of water hit James on his face, causing the lenses of his glasses to become particularly difficult to see through. He whirled around blindly, accidentally hitting Sirius in several places. The other boy reached out to try and calm his friend but instead, with a joint effort from James’ wild thrashing, managed to punch him in the face. A snap made Sirius’ face dropped in guilt, and he took on the appearance of a chastised puppy.   
“Oops…”  
Sev merely smirked at the display, while the girl frowned at him, before turning back to James, who was clutching his broken glasses.  
"Here," she murmured softly, taking his chin gently to position his head in her direction. He blinked. "Oculus Reparo." She waved her wand placidly and almost immediately, the two separate pieces of his glasses sprang back together; the material weaving in and out before they were connected once more.  
James took them off and looked through the other side, while Sirius stared at her in unconcealed awe.  
"Woah..."  
"Wow," James said gently. "Thank you."   
He smiled at her and she only hesitated slightly before returning it.  
"You’re welcome."  
"How did you do that?" Sirius asked, taking James' glasses off of his nose and looking through them. James reached out blindly for Sirius' hands but was met with empty air.  
"Erm... Sirius mate, sort of need those..."   
"Oh yeah, sorry," he replied, positioning the glasses back on his friends nose.  
James turned back to the girl, holding his hand out.  
"Lily Evans," she said, a slight blush colouring her pale freckled cheeks. He shook her hand.  
"James Potter, at your service."  
Lily smiled, turning back to her friend. Sirius sniggered at James' expression.  
"I'm going to marry her, one day..." He said dreamily, his hazel eyes glazed over as he looked at the small redhead. Sirius grinned, patting him on the back.  
"In your dreams Potter..."

*

The hat was heavy and far too big on his head, almost completely obscuring his vision.   
“Where to put you. Where to put you,” its grisly voice murmured. Sirius’ eyes scanned the Great Hall. He looked at the four house tables individually, his eyes resting for a second longer on the Slytherin table, where he could see the unruly black curls of his eighteen year old cousin. Bella was entering her final year, and was by far his least favourite of the three sisters. Andromeda, his favourite, had been blasted off the tapestry just last year after she announced her engagement to a muggleborn. He had felt saddened when he heard the news, as she had become his only companion during the family gatherings. Then there was the youngest of his cousins, Narcissa. Sirius could see her signature golden hair lower down the table, sitting next to a matching head that he knew belonged to the renowned Lucius Malfoy. He could feel his blood already starting to boil as he recalled the last party he had been forced to go to, where Lucius had insulted the girl down the road. Sirius had argued back, defending his one and only friend for a secret three years. She had died four weeks previous in a car accident, and he swallowed, hearing once more the echoing sneers at muggles and their technology.   
“Slytherin eh?” The hat questioned curiously, and Sirius jolted, momentarily remembering its presence. He shook his head.   
“No.”   
“Really? You do have the characteristics. You’re ambitious, there’s no doubt about that… And you have family honour to carry on… Not to mention pure hatred…No? But it could help you on your way to greatness…”  
Sirius closed his eyes, not caring that multiple pairs of eyes were fixed curiously on his young, worried face. It was in that moment that he made a decision.  
“I don’t want to be ‘great’.”  
He knew that if the hat had eyebrows, it would have raised them in shock then. Whilst he might not have said it directly, the hat knew perfectly what he meant.  
“Well, seeing as you are adamant about that, let’s see what other options there are… Not Hufflepuff, your loyalty knows no bounds to those you care for but your kindness seems to be hard to gain. Ravenclaw would only dampen your spirits but your thirst for knowledge is unmistakable. Yet… Ah, here it is. You see, it’s all in your head. You have a strong will, young Black, and a nerve that rivals that of your stubbornness. You will do well in this house, very well indeed… In that case, it better be… GRYFFINDOR!”  
Sirius sighed in relief as the Professor lifted the old hat off of his head. He walked down the raised dais’ steps, holding his head high as he was taught to do so as soon as he could walk. They knew what the name Black meant, and no one, not even the uneducated muggleborns, were foolish enough to question it.   
It was the only perk of being from the blasted family, Sirius thought, brooding to himself as he took his seat at the Gryffindor Table. The Great Hall had been silenced for a second or too, shocked at hearing the news of a Black joining the House of the Lions. After most had regained their shock, the entire scarlet-clad house had erupted in cheer.   
“Evans, Lily.”   
He recognised the young girl from the boat nervously sit on the stool. Her freckles stood out against her sickeningly pale skin, which seemed to have drained of all colour when her name was called. After a few minutes of the girl frowning and muttering every now and then, the hat called out the same word.   
“GRYFFINDOR!”   
The girl smiled, closing her eyes briefly before she approached the clapping table and sat down on the opposite side, next to another girl. He saw her cast a sad, wistful look at her greasy-haired friend, ‘Sev’, who swallowed, seemingly determined on looking straight ahead.   
Sirius zoned out for most of the sorting, perking up only when a quiet boy sat down next to him and jolted him out of his thoughts. He studied his companion. Light brown hair, streaked with different highlights, was swept across his forehead. His amber eyes were bright but seemed dark despite their colouring, as though the boy was always sad for one reason or another. The light of the thousands of candles above shifted and Sirius noticed a thin, white scar marring the boy’s pale skin. It stretched from the corner of his right eye down to his ear and blended with his almost white complexion. He must have felt the familiar prickly sensation of being watched for he looked up suddenly and amber met grey.   
Sirius gulped.   
“I’m Sirius, Sirius Black,” he said, holding out his hand. The boy looked shocked at being addressed, as if he wasn’t expecting anyone to notice him, let alone take an interest in him.   
“Remus Lupin,” he replied, shaking hands.   
“Potter, James!” Sirius’ ears perked up as he watched his friend walk confidently to the Sorting Hat. It had barely touched his head when it yelled, “GRYFFINDOR!”   
This time, both he and Remus joined in and cheered as James took the space directly opposite the shaggy-haired Black.   
He grinned, “I told you,” he laughed and Sirius joined in, nudging Remus playfully.   
“It’s only because you don’t have the ambition, intelligence or loyalty to be even considered for the other houses! I mean, the thing didn’t even take a second to realise that with your blatant recklessness, you belonged here!”   
James clutched a hand to his chest while Remus snorted with amusement, the previous crease lines disappearing and making his face look youthful for once.   
“Oh Siri, why do you wound me so!?” Sirius scowled at the nickname but James just carried on. “Anyway, why did it take so long for you?” He lowered his voice so as to not interrupt the rest of the Sorting. Sirius licked his lips solemnly.   
Leaning forward and motioning for the other two to do the same, he muttered, “It wanted to put me in Slytherin… because it heard me thinking about my family…”  
James’ eyes widened behind his glasses and Remus frowned, patting him on the shoulder in a friendly but strangely comforting gesture.   
The three boys were pulled out of their thoughts by the end of the Sorting. The Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, stood up. His typical midnight blue robes twinkled in tune with his eyes as he looked out at his students. A long white wispy beard flowed from the lower half of his face and was tucked into the thick black muggle belt that he wore around his waist. He opened his arms in greeting.  
“Welcome students, be you old or young, comfortingly familiar or refreshingly new. Before we start devouring our delectable feast, I am afraid I must take a minute of our precious time to inform you of the rules. As our first years will no doubt be unaware and I believe a few of our older students need reminding one too many times,” he looked over his half-moon spectacles and cast an amused glance to the Gryffindor table. “The forbidden forest is, as the name suggests, forbidden to all students who do not wish to lose themselves or quite possibly play dinner for a ravenous beast. I hear that the arachnid are particularly hungry during the Autumn mating season…”  
Sirius, Remus and James exchanged looks of horror, mingled with confusion.  
“Any breaking of rules or misbehaviour in lessons will be dealt with accordingly by the present teacher. Oh and just a few words before we delve into the fine food; Hubbub! Toil! Burdwad! Soil! And now, dig in!”   
Almost as if those very last words were a trigger, the entire hall reached forward to help themselves to various piles of food and drink. James bit into a drumstick, chewing quickly whilst looking at Sirius oddly.   
“I knew you wouldn’t be,” he said, smiling and pointing the end of the bone at the boy in question. Sirius looked vaguely confused before he too smiled softly. “You’re too good, Black.”


	2. The Folding of Socks

Chapter Two

The library was dark. Visibility escaped through the tall windows, in fractured rays of moonlight and he shuffled a little in his seat, careful not to make any noise.  
His eyes stung with tiredness and he longed to call it a day and traipse back to his dormitory to sleep, but he couldn’t. He wouldn’t.   
The book he had open was a rubbish one; that, he could admit. It didn’t have the information he needed. Sighing, he flung the book aside and rubbed his eyes, starting on the next pile.  
He didn’t want to stop looking. If he did, then he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly anyway; the heavy weight would keep him up. His best friend of a year and a half had no idea how much effort he was putting into this, he thought with a bitter laugh. But then his laugh softened as he remembered the day, just earlier that week, when Remus had been sleeping in the Hospital Wing, and they had all gone to visit.   
He’d looked so drained, and damaged and although he was only eleven (nearly twelve), he had seemed much, much younger.   
“Once a month,” he murmured to himself, trying so hard to recollect everything that he had found suspicious about Remus’ disappearances. “Once a month, he says he goes to visit his Mother. But the next morning, he’s in the Hospital Wing with Merlin knows how many bruises…” He let his hand fall onto the book in front of him, wincing at the sound. Holding his breath, he froze, waiting to see if someone had heard him before he carried on talking to himself. “What the heck are you doing, Lupin?”  
He came up blank.   
He slammed his head on the desk. Although, his forehead never made contact with the wooden surface; instead, it met paper.   
Curious, he frowned. He lifted his head and allowed his eyes to scan the page. His frown only deepened.  
‘Werewolf  
The werewolf is found worldwide, though it is believed to have originated in northern Europe. Humans turn into werewolves only when bitten. There is no known cure, although Ministry Officials claim to be working on developments in potion-making that alleviate the worst symptoms. Once a month, at the full moon, the otherwise sane and normal wizard or Muggle afflicted transforms into a murderous beast. After the transformation, the werewolf whilst in human form can be affected by the inner temptations and there are rare cases of a split-personality disorder deriving from this small fact. The human infected only remembers snippets of their escapade after the night of the full moon, and it can therefore be argued that the werewolf is not to be held fully responsible for its actions, when it is not in human form.  
It is also important to note that werewolves are fundamentally different from Animagi. Lycanthropy is caused by a blood infection transmitted through the bite of a werewolf, whereas the Animagus skill is learned and attained from actual magic. The werewolves cannot keep their minds during a transformation nor can they control themselves when they transform, while Animagi can do both. However, as werewolves only harm humans, Animagi, while in their animal forms, are safe to be in the company of werewolves.’  
“Oh my god… Oh my god…” James Potter said aloud, momentarily forgetting where he was.  
There was a creak outside the library and he swore under his breath, hearing the caretaker getting closer and closer, and seeing the swinging lamp moving through the aisles to where he sat.   
“Shit.”  
James draped his cloak over his body, whispering the incantation “Nox” to distinguish his wand’s light and started to move towards the exit. His eyes widened when he saw the open book, still lying there and he grabbed hold of it, almost dropping it in his haste.   
He ran all the way back to the dormitory, not looking back once.  
When he got there, he was careful to be as quiet as possible, although James’ eyes were drawn to his friend, sleeping in the bed on the very end.   
Remus had been let out of the Hospital Wing just that morning, and James couldn’t help but pity his friend. He faltered in his footing and he willed his legs to move, but he couldn’t.   
“Remus… What on earth happened to you?” He whispered sadly.  
His twelve year old friend stirred in his sleep. From the large window, the light cascaded over his paralysed form and the moon watched its child from the sky.   
James crept closer to him, praying that he wouldn’t wake up and smiled. Remus’ face looked soft and youth-splashed, and his chest rose deeply.   
James smiled. “You don’t need to hide from us, Moon-Boy. Not anymore.”  
And he tip-toed back across the room to his own bed, where he collapsed, exhausted mentally and physically, vowing that he would do whatever he could to help his Remus.  
“What’s biting your arse, Potter?” Sirius asked him at the Gryffindor table the next day. James rubbed at his eyes, cursing the bags that adorned his face.   
“Nothing. I-“ he stopped talking when Remus sat down opposite. Sirius noticed and shot him a curious glance.   
“What are you two talking about?” Remus asked, covering his mouth with his hand to stifle a yawn.   
James knew that it was now or never.  
“Where do you go once a month?” He asked, his face precariously blank. Remus bristled.  
“I-I told you. M-my Mother is ill. I have to go visit her every month, just to see if she’s alright-“  
“Then why do you always end up in the Hospital Wing? It isn’t something contagious, is it?”  
“James,” Sirius said warningly, but he didn’t stop.  
“I-no-it’s just-“  
“You don’t have to lie to us, Remus. We’re your best friends. We’ve known you for almost two years now,” James assured, and his friend paled considerably. Remus looked down at his hands before standing up.  
“I have to go. Um, I-I have to ask Professor Slughorn about the essay he assigned. I-I-I’ll see you.”  
As soon as he was gone, Sirius turned to James. His face was contorted.  
“What the hell was that?” He growled angrily. “You know what Remus is like. You can’t just go and do that, for fucks sake.”  
“Sirius-“  
“No, James. I can’t even believe you.”  
“Sirius, please-“  
“That was toeing the line, and you know it!”  
“Remus is lying to us.”  
This stopped his friend’s tirade. Sirius blinked.  
“What?”  
“Remus is lying to us,” James repeated patiently and Sirius actually recoiled.  
“What are you talking about? Is this some sort of game to you?”  
James leaned closer.   
“Sirius, please. I need you to believe me. I’m your best friend and Remus is ours. I would never do anything to ruin that. Please,” he pleaded. Sirius considered this for a few moments before he said:   
“You’re mad, Potter,” and James’ face dropped. Sirius then smiled slightly, and nudged his shoulder. “But hey, so am I. Now, what’s behind your madness this time?”  
James grinned and jumped up from his seat. Sirius followed warily. “All in good time, my dear friend! But first, we need to find Pete!”  
And so, that was how the three Second Years found themselves sat in their dormitory when they should have been in History of Magic, discussing their fourth friend.  
James relayed all the information he knew; where he had been every night, and how, showing them the cloak that Sirius had touched with big eyes, and told them the truth.   
They both were silent for a long time until…  
“You’re not pulling our legs, are you?” Sirius asked, arms folded across his chest.  
James shook his head earnestly, his glasses slipping down his nose a little. “I swear. I promise, Sirius, Peter. Look!” He cried suddenly, remembering the book under his pillow. “It’s here, look.”  
As the other two’s eyes scanned the page, James bit his finger nail timidly. When they were done, they looked up at him carefully.   
“James…”  
“I know! I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. Think about it, Sirius, please! He disappears once a month, and he always acts funny in the days leading up it-“  
“Yeah,” Peter interrupted. “Because his Mum is dying.”  
“Yes! I mean, no! If that’s true, then why does he always end up in the Hospital Wing? It doesn’t make sense! Just-“ he sighed, covering his face. “Just think about it.”  
“Think about what?” Remus asked from the doorway, walking in to deposit his books on his bed. He laughed, stopping to neaten the cover. “You three are extremely lucky to have me as your friend, I happen to be a professional signature-forger, so hopefully Ol’ Sluggy won’t have realised that you weren’t actually there, despite the fact that the register was signed. I-“  
He stopped, noticing his friend’s unusual quietness. Suspicious, he squinted at them.   
“Well, this is highly abnormal. Why are you so tame?” He asked, a sarcastic twinge to his voice. Remus frowned when they didn’t reply again. “Seriously, has something happened? Are you all alright?”  
Sirius looked at James, who couldn’t meet his gaze in return. James swallowed, stepping forward to stand right in front of his bewildered friend.   
“James… What’s going on?”  
“We know what you are, Remus.”  
Remus froze. It looked like he had forgotten how to breathe and his lower lip trembled.   
“I-how?” He asked faintly, his entire body shaking like a leaf in a storm. “How?”  
“Your story,” James said softly. “It didn’t make sense. If you were going to visit your Mum, then how come you always ended up hurt in some way? I didn’t believe it, I’m sorry.  
“So, every night when you fell asleep, I’d sneak out to the library and I’d look through all the books I could to try and figure it out… and then, I did…”  
Remus didn’t speak, he couldn’t even open his mouth or move. He just slid onto his bed, looking as though he’d been drained of all his blood. The blood in his adolescent body had frozen, and his eyes dropped close of their own accord. Internally, he knew this day would come. He knew they would find out, being as intelligent and nosy and caring as they were. And of course it would have been James.   
James couldn’t sleep if he knew someone he loved was suffering. It was like a sixth sense; this maternal instinct to take care of everyone and everything he held dear.  
“You can leave. It’s okay. They all do –leave, I mean—when they find out.” Remus said quietly and Sirius and James dropped onto his bed, to sit next to him; Peter sat on Sirius’ bed to face them all.   
“Have you heard this wackjob, Peter?” Sirius asked lightly, but his voice had an undercurrent of sadness. “Leave, he says. Leave! As if we’re capable of leaving him alone, after everything we’ve been through together!”  
“I know, Sirius! He’s acting as though we’re just some silly twelve year old boys! Really, I feel distraught that he would ever think so lowly of us,” Peter added in the same tone.  
Sirius and Peter’s facades dropped then and James turned to put his arm around Remus.  
“I am not leaving, Remus. Nor is James. Or Peter. You are our friend and no matter what, we stick together,” Sirius said solemnly. “Am I pissed you didn’t tell us? Yes. Am I even more pissed that you thought so lowly of us? Slightly. But what you need to understand is that even if you do have a… furry little problem; we love you just as much…”  
Then, Peter said, “Possibly even more, cause… y’know, how many guys can really say they have a werewolf as a best friend?”  
Remus let out a small, pathetic laugh.   
“What Sirius and Peter are stupidly failing to say, is that we don’t care who you are or what you are. And even though you’re a werewolf, you’re our friend first,” James explained gently. “Nothing could ever change that. Nothing could ever break us up.”  
Remus stood up then, rubbing at his face harshly and went to stand a little away from his friends as he absorbed everything.   
“Are you sure?” He said shakily. “Are you sure you want to stay? I wouldn’t mind- I mean, I wouldn’t blame you if you-“  
Remus sighed, resignedly.   
“If you wanted me kicked out of Hogwarts-“  
“Kicked out?” Peter asked, his voice high pitch from incredulity. “Why would we do that?”  
“Because- Because I’m a monster…”  
“You’re being dramatic,” James said good-humouredly. “You fold your socks, Remus, and then organise them in terms of colour. Forgive me if I’m not trembling at the sight of you!”  
“So you’re not- you’re not afraid of me?” Remus asked carefully, looking at them all intensely with a pained yet unreadable expression on his face, as if he was judging their seriousness. “You don’t… but…but, I mean… werewolves, they’re not exactly… popular… or safe. For all you know, I could be dangerous!”  
Sirius grinned, letting out a bark of a laughter. “Really, Lupin, what part of ‘you fold your socks’ isn’t getting through?”  
Remus finally allowed himself to smile, and he hadn’t noticed but tears were slowly but surely falling down his cheeks. He took one step towards them before collapsing on the floor.  
“Remus!” James shouted, jumping up to go and help his friend. The other two copied his movement. Putting one hand under his friend’s arm to try and lift him, with Sirius doing the same, he said, “Are you okay? What happened?”  
“I- I just,” Remus faltered. Then he laughed. Loudly. Peter looked shocked, glancing fearfully at Sirius, who looked just as disconcerted. “I just feel so lucky to have you all as my friends.”  
And then the young werewolf started crying, on the floor of his dormitory, surrounded by his three best friends, who had just accepted him for what he was, in a world that practically screamed it’s animosity for his kind.


End file.
